Egyptian God Thoth - The Wise OneThe Ibis was the sacred bird of Africa that represented the Egyptian God Thoth. God of wisdom, knowledge and science, he was thought to be responsible for some of the most important findings and inventions of ancient Egypt.He was the God of medicine for starters; with healing powers that helped to resurrect the dead (and dismembered) Osiris long enough to father Horus. He was also said to have been the inventor of hieroglyphics, math, and writing systems in general. He came up with the names for things. Oh, and did I mention he is the father of astronomy as well? The ancient Egyptians loved the stars. His statue is another favorite in souvenir shops! The ibis statue usually comes in bronze, in all sizes. For some reason, people love to buy them in threes, each a different size. But he also had another form that he took - that of the baboon. What could be a wiser animal than an ape? With the stereotype of the wise old man at work here, Thoth had two sides to his personality. One was slow-paced, down to earth, and kind. The other was fierce and strict when it came to justice and defending the wronged.
Thoth's Function and Worship
Of course, as with all ancient Egyptian Gods, he had certain roles in the underworld as well. He was there to record the verdicts of the weighing-of-the-heart ceremony and protector and guide of the dead.He was also the protector and messenger for the Gods. In fact, being a messenger was one of the reasons he was depicted as an ibis. All of these roles were given to him as the assistant of Ra, who just had so much on his plate that he decided to delegate. And who better to take over such important tasks than such a wise and fair God? So, with so many duties, Thoth invented a writing system in order to keep track of all the records. And after he invented writing, he then went on to become the author of "The Book of Thoth" - a book of magic. As with many of the ancient Egyptian Gods, different myths attribute different lineages to each. For Thoth, he is mainly thought of as Ra's eldest son. He was worshipped all over Egypt, with his depictions in tombs as well as temples. Statues of him as the ibis and the baboon are found abundantly. The more interesting (and kind of shocking) method of worshipping Thoth was to mummify baboons and ibis birds in his honor. One tomb of a high priest of Thoth had an underground area of hundreds of acres all filled with sacrificed baboons and ibises. Thoth is actually one of the few lunar gods to have held such a high status, and was depicted wearing a moon disk.
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